MNN Hub
Nigeria Losing War Against Oil Theft, Niger Delta Group Tells Tinubu, NSA, Others
A sociocultural group, the Southern Ijaw Unity Forum, says Nigeria is losing the war against oil theft.
The group told President Bola Tinubu; the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu; the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other stakeholders in the oil sector in a statement made available to newsmen on Monday in Abuja.
The Chairman, Southern Ijaw Unity Forum, Comrade Timothy Amadiowei, in the statement, called on the Federal Government not to re-award the pipeline surveillance contracts to the current beneficiaries whose contracts have expired.
Amadiowei said rather, the contracts be decentralised across board for all major stakeholders in the Niger Delta struggle.
According to him, this is because Nigeria is not making any progress at all in the fight against oil theft, pipeline vandalisation and illegal refining of petroleum products.
He hinged the failure on the Federal Government’s refusal to heed wise counsel from the outset.
Amadiowei said that the development had resulted in oil theft under the cover of surveillance activities, brewing crisis in the Niger Delta and loss of innocent lives in illegal detention centres, which he said, are capable of smearing the image of the Nigerian government at the international level.
He said “the Muhammadu Buhari-led government and the NNPCL were made to believe the illusion that one man is king of the Niger Delta and that awarding the pipeline surveillance contract to him would automatically end the war against oil theft.”
He said this fairytale is what made the Federal Government to neglect the expertise of other renowned freedom fighters in the Niger Delta, and awarded the contract to one man alone to secure pipelines in the territories of other ex-agitators who have paid their dues and worked so hard to ensure peace and political stability in the region but were later pushed aside.
Amadiowei reminded the nation that it is not only the current beneficiaries that worked for the APC government.
According to him, it is very unfair that after major stakeholders like Alhaji Asari Dokubo and Endurance Amagbein, among others, have worked so hard for the APC government, they are neglected and what should have been shared evenly amongst the ex-militants for equity and fairness was given to one man who has refused to carry people along.
He said the Federal Government is winning the fight against oil theft only on the news, but in reality, the illegal business is thriving daily – with most filling stations selling only adulterated fuel.
He urged President Tinubu, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, and the NSA, Ribadu, to take the bold step in correcting the errors made by the past administration, and yield to the demand of the Niger Delta people that the pipeline surveillance contracts be decentralised and shared to all deserving stakeholders.
Amadiowei urged the Federal Government not to engage in shadowboxing when help is available.
He said, “The only solution to oil theft and illegal refining of petroleum products is decentralisation, because nobody is happy with the anomalies on ground.
“Every stakeholder is angry with the current arrangement, how can one man from Delta State whose kingdom comprises only eight communities be awarded a surveillance contract to secure pipelines in the territories of other stakeholders as in the case with Bayelsa State?
“Carry everybody along, and you’ll see the difference, and I can tell you boldly that there are renowned ex-agitators who have the answers the government is seeking, but they are just watching the Federal Government struggle because the government has failed to approach them for help.
“If you think you’ve seen pipeline security, then wait until the likes of Alhaji Asari Dokubo, King Ateke Tom and Endurance Amagbein, who understand the Niger Delta terrain more than anybody else, come into the picture with what they have to offer.
“And so we are joining the host of other Niger Delta stakeholders who have seen that the only way to win this fight is decentralisation and bringing everyone onboard.
“Let everybody secure their own domains, because if anybody is doing illegal bunkering in my community, I know them and I know how to deal with them, but a stranger does not know them and so it’s difficult to stop them.
“If you are from Delta State, stay in Delta and secure the pipelines in your area, if you are from Rivers State, stay in Rivers and secure pipelines there, if you are from Bayelsa, stay there and secure pipelines there, likewise the other states producing crude oil and gas.
“This is not the time to re-award all the pipeline surveillance jobs in the entire Niger Delta to one man, this is the time to share it among the major stakeholders so that they can cover the whole area to put an end to oil theft.”
Source: EconomicConfidential | Read the Full Story…
